DOJ Warns Illinois School Against Race-Based Hiring Practices

The US Department of Justice has threatened to sue Southern Illinois University &#0151 Carbondale over racially exclusive programs at the school. The DOJ has notified the school that hiring practices for its three graduate fellowships intentionally discriminate against whites, Asian Americans, and Arab Americans, and thus violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The DOJ launched an investigation after the Virginia-based Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) alerted the department about Southern Illinois University's racially discriminatory practices. Roger Clegg, CEO's vice president and general counsel, says the school has a number of programs that are illegal, and the Justice Department has warned the school that its hiring practices intentionally discriminate against whites and “non-preferred minorities.”

“It's hard to understand why Southern Illinois would insist on having a program that won't even consider a student unless they're a particular skin color or unless their parents come from a particular foreign country,” Clegg says. “It doesn't make any educational sense, and it's not fair.”

The CEO spokesman, who once served in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, says his group has asked the university to open its programs to students of all races and ethnicities, but it has refused to do so. A report notes that none of the more than 100 SIU fellowships awarded in the past several years went to white males.

“No educational program should ever exclude a student from consideration simply because of that student's skin color,” Clegg asserts. “Black or white, Asian or Hispanic, Arab American or American Indian, it doesn't make any difference. All students should be able to participate in any program regardless of their skin color.”

The Justice Department intervened after the Center for Equal Opportunity failed to get SIU to ensure all students equal access to its fellowship programs, regardless of ethnicity or national origin. The DOJ says it will sue if the university does not comply with the law.